Trouble in Dixie – Familiar Legacy Book 2 by Rebecca Barrett

Trouble, a savvy black cat with a penchant for sleuthing, has landed in the cream of Savannah society. So has a murderer and art thief. Julia Hampton comes from old family, old money, and old society, but her job as an art insurance investigator puts her at odds with her background–and with the killer. Julia is determined to stop him. U. S. Deputy Marshal Mitch Lawson knows more than he’s willing to let on. One thing is clear: Julia is in danger–because of secrets he won’t share.

But have no fear, Trouble the black cat detective is on the job and while Julia and Mitch are distracted by their attraction to each other, he is about to get his man.

I love this detective cat! In this one Tammy Lynn is off canvasing libraries and Trouble is in Savannah, Georgia with a Private Investigator friend Julia.

We jump right into suspense with Julia’s office being broken into. Her parents having a fit and being coerced into attending a formal affair to appease her father.

Followed by not being able to reach her contact at the Insurance Agency she is contracted to, but meeting an intriguing fellow, Doug Heinz, who has been pranked by two of his co-workers. Then meeting a US Marshall Mitch Lawson.

This is a favorite scene after Mitch shows up at her office.

Julia picked up the card and read it. Then she moved to the window and watched as Mitch Lawson stood on the sidewalk outside her house, unmoving, staring into the darkness.

She hated to think she was so fickle but from the moment he had stepped into her office she had forgotten all about Doug Heinz. That is, until Lawson brought him up. What was it between those two? She had sensed the tension in Doug on the street earlier in the day when Mitch arrived in response to her 911 call. At the time she brushed it aside as anger over the vandalism. Now she wasn’t so sure. It now seemed more than a little suspicious that Mitch would have shown up at the scene, and so quickly at that. And now he was asking questions about her relationship with Doug.

He had come to her in search of information on the theft, or so he said. Why did she feel there was more to it than that? She sighed. Her father’s concern over her safety was beginning to take its toll. All these unanswered questions didn’t help matters. She had brushed off the break-in to everyone but now she could admit to herself a little niggle of fear. After the break-in, Peter Ryder had disappeared, a U. S. Deputy Marshal had arrived on the scene, tight lipped and watchful. What was really going on?

She placed the card on her desk and started to tidy up the files on the table in the corner of her office. Trouble dropped to the floor from the sofa and padded across to her desk. He jumped to the chair then the desktop.

“What have I told you about my desk, Trouble?” Julia stopped what she was doing, a stack of files in her hand.

“Yeow.” Trouble batted at the card with his paw, moving it around on the desktop. Then he sat on his haunches and blinked slowly three times. “Yeow.”

Julia placed the files on the table and crossed the room to stand looking down at Trouble. She picked up the card. “Okay. So, what’s the message? Friend or foe?”

Trouble began to purr, his eyelids drooping to half mast.

Julia started scratching him under his chin. His eyes closed and the purring grew to the sound of a small cement mixer. “I think you like him.”

Trouble’s eyes opened to green slits, then closed again. A final judgment, Julia thought, on the merits of one Mitchell Lawson, U. S. Deputy Marshal.

Julia tapped Mitch’s card against her chin. The key, she thought, was Peter Ryder. As soon as the claim was assigned to her, he disappeared. True, it had been only a little over forty-eight hours since anyone had last seen him, but the timing was suspicious.Rebecca Barrett. Trouble in Dixie (Kindle Locations 475-498). KaliOka Press. Kindle Edition.

Fast-paced, lots of fun and danger. Twists and turns abound in this tale.

Julia’s family is a hoot and Mitch is delightful. Trouble is in fact always in the middle of things and I adore this cat.

I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.

5 Contented Purrs for Rebecca!

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Rebecca Barrett

Rebecca Barrett writes historical fiction, romantic mysteries, post-apocalyptic fiction (writing as Campbell O’Neal), children’s stories, and short stories of life in the South. An avid reader all her life and a product of “front porch” socializing, she became a story-teller at an early age.

Her current novel, Trouble in Paradise, features that handsome, sleek, black cat detective, Trouble. The game is afoot in Key West, Florida and there’s a dead body in the Toucan Suite of the Paradise B&B. This is Rebecca Barrett’s second book in this series written by multiple authors (The Mad Catters) who follow the antics of super-sleuth Trouble as he lands in first one crime scene then another. Of course, the humans help a little. These romantic mysteries are fun and light hearted and just perfect for a beach read or a rainy day.